gonna paint a sign
by whilewewereyetsinners
Summary: "Listen, Renee, leave Bella here while you go to your mother's. Figure out what you're going to do: if you're going to stay there, get a job, go to college… Once you know, we can talk about what the best thing is for her." Bella grows up in Forks, and it changes everything. (Well, maybe not everything...) Canon-friendly AU, canon couples, improved Charlie, eventual ExB.


**March 1989**

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"Because I hate it here!" Renee shrieked, startling Bella awake.

Charlie lunged across the room and patted the baby's back, trying to soothe her before she started wailing. "Renee, keep it down, would you? Can't we talk about this calmly?"

His wife threw her hands in the air, a dramatic gesture he had recently begun to hate, but at least she lowered her voice. "Talk about what? What is there to talk about, Charlie? I can't stand it here and you refuse to leave."

He heaved a sigh, so incredibly tired of having the same argument over and over and _over_. "I have a responsibility to my parents, Renee. You know how much help they need; how can you expect me to just abandon them?"

"You have a responsibility to me, too! Someone else can help them."

"Who?" he asked flatly. "If I leave, who is going to help them?" The silence stretched out between them, and his heart ached as he watched Renee's eyes fill with tears. "I wish I could leave with you," he told her miserably. "I really do. I could be a cop anywhere, and we could go somewhere sunny… I want you to be happy, Renee, and I know you're not." _I know I'm failing you_ , he thought miserably. "But Dad can't handle Mom alone anymore and they can't afford to put her in a nursing home. You _know_ all this. I can't leave them when they need me. I can't."

She looked at him for a long moment, tears sliding down her crestfallen face, before saying quietly, "I'm sorry, Charlie. I won't argue with you about it anymore." She left the room and headed up the stairs to the bathroom.

Charlie let out a gusty breath, wondering why he didn't feel relieved. Not arguing was a good thing. Right?

He sat on the couch, watching Bella through the mesh side of her playpen. She was sleeping soundly again, a dark-haired cherub with flushed cheeks. Even now, a year and a half after her birth, he was amazed that the tiny, beautiful creature belonged to him. Sometimes it was so overwhelming; she would stare at him so seriously while he talked to her, sing little songs as she played with her toys, or gurgle a laugh when he tickled her, and his love for her would swell until it felt like was going to choke him. Being a father was everything and nothing like he thought it would be. It was so much more.

Renee hadn't stopped walking around upstairs, opening and closing doors, moving between the bathroom and both bedrooms, back and forth, and the lump in his stomach grew.

He really should go see what she was doing. Try and talk her out of what she was doing.

Instead, he sat on the couch and watched their daughter sleep, the lump in his stomach growing larger, until he wanted to vomit.

He loved his wife. He wanted her to be happy. If leaving him would make her happy…

She started down the stairs. He scrubbed his hands over his face and stood up, determined to do this last thing for her. To let her go without a fight.

Renee left her suitcases by the door. She walked past him, close enough that he could smell her light perfume, and picked Bella up from the playpen. The tiny girl blinked owlishly, then nestled her head into the crook of her mother's neck.

"I'm sorry, Charlie," Renee murmured, not meeting his eyes. "It just didn't work out."

"I'm sorry, too," he replied honestly. She would never know how sorry.

Renee smiled sadly at him, then turned and headed towards the door.

Still holding Bella.

"Whoa, whoa, wait! You're taking Bella?"

"Of course I'm taking her," Renee replied blankly.

"What, you're just going to _take_ her, without even talking about it?"

"Oh, come on, Charlie! We've talked and talked; there's nothing more to talk about. I can't stay here; you can't leave."

"If you want to leave, fine, I can't stop you, but I _can_ stop you from taking my baby!"

"She's my baby, too!"

Charlie took a deep breath and forced down his panic. "Of course she is. I didn't mean she isn't. But where are you going to go?"

"I'm going to my mother's," she muttered sullenly.

He bit back a cry of disbelief. Renee and her mother were barely on speaking terms; a house with the two of them was not where he wanted his daughter. "That's what, twenty hours of driving? At best? Do you really want to make that trip with an eighteen month old?"

Renee frowned. "Not really, but…"

"Listen, Renee, leave Bella here while you go to your mother's. Figure out what you're going to do: if you're going to stay there, get a job, go to college…" He watched her eyes spark with interest at the word college, and continued earnestly, "Once you know, we can talk about what the best thing is for her."

She ran a gentle hand over their daughter's head and bit her lip, looking torn. "But you have to work. How will you take care of her?"

"I can find someone to watch her while I'm working."

Irritation flashed across her face. "Oh, you can find someone to watch Bella, but not help your parents?"

"There's a big difference between watching a toddler and helping an elderly couple, the husband crippled and the wife ill with Alzheimer's," he pointed out with forced patience.

Renee wrinkled her nose and giggled, her natural ebullience leaking out even in this situation. "I suppose that's true. You're sure you don't mind if I leave Bella for now?"

He felt a stab of sadness. Did she really not know him at all? "Of course I don't mind."

She pressed her lips to Bella's head and began untangling her tiny fingers from her hair. Charlie took her so Renee could use both hands. Bella was a dexterous little thing.

"Mama!" Bella proclaimed.

"Yep, that's your mama," he agreed. "Give her all her hair back now."

Once freed Renee held her hair back with one hand while peppering Bella's face with kisses. Bella giggled hysterically while her mother whispered her love into her ear, then began poking at the design on her father's shirt and jabbering to it.

"Charlie, I… I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry." Renee's eyes shimmered with tears.

"Me too, Renee. Call me, let me know you got there safe. Okay?"

"Okay. I'll buy a calling card somewhere, since I doubt Mom will want me to call on her phone. You know she doesn't have a long-distance calling plan."

"Okay."

They stood there, both looking at the ground, Bella's babbling filling the silence.

"Renee…" Charlie started.

"I should go," his wife blurted out. "I want to get to Oregon before I stop."

He sighed, defeated. "You want a hand with the luggage?"

"No, I've got it." She gestured to the middle case. "This one's Bella's, so I don't need it now. Um… bye, Charlie. I'll call you."

"Bye, Renee," he replied gruffly. "Be careful."

He stood in the doorway long after she was gone, nauseous and grieving, and wondered what to do next. He felt Bella's tiny hand patting his cheek.

"Mama go?"

He pressed his nose into her neck and breathed in her clean baby scent, then blew a raspberry onto her skin, making her shriek with laughter. "Mama had to go away for awhile, baby girl. But we'll be all right." He closed the door and headed for the kitchen to look for the phone book. Maybe Laura Weber would know of someone who could watch Bella. "We'll be all right."

* * *

 **A/N: I've had this in my files _forever_ and even though I've made (apparently worthless) vows to never begin posting an unfinished fic again, well, here it is. ****I do plan on continuing it, but it can stand alone for now. (I also have a one-shot nearly finished in which Edward decides he can't go home after his rebellious period-it'll be up this weekend, so keep an eye out if that interests you!)** **Title is from Paul Simon's song _Father and Daughter._ I found the cover photo on pinterest with no artist attribution-if it's yours please let me know so I can credit you, or remove it if you prefer. I love hearing people's thoughts, so please leave a comment if you can!**


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